Rapid Photocatalytic Activity of Crystalline CeO 2 -CuO-Cu(OH) 2 Ternary Nanocomposite

The development of a heterojunction nanocomposite leads to improved optoelectronic properties. Herein, ceria (CeO 2 ), copper oxide (CuO), and ceria–copper–copper hydroxide (CeO 2 -CuO-Cu(OH) 2 ) nanocomposites were prepared via a facile chemical method and their structural, morphological, and optical properties were studied using various characteristic techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultra-violet visible light absorption (UV-visible), photoluminescence, and thermogravimetry differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). In the integration of CeO 2 and CuO with Cu(OH) 2 , the band gap is modified to 2.64 eV; this reduced band gap can improve the photocatalytic efficiency of the nanocomposite. The CeO 2 can increase light absorption in the nanocomposite, while CuO acts as an electron trap in the composite and this leads to a good enhancement of the optical properties of the CeO 2 -CuO-Cu(OH) 2 nanocomposite. In addition, the heterojunction combination at the interfaces of the CeO 2 -CuO-Cu(OH) 2 nanocomposite facilitates the photo-generated charge separation in the composite, which increases the charge participation in the catalyzed conversion reactions of the prepared composite. The highest photocatalytic degradation efficiencies of 96.4% and 92.7% were achieved for fast green (FG) and bromophenol blue (BP), respectively, using the CeO 2 -CuO-Cu(OH) 2 nanocomposite.